Tim Miller | |
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| Born | (1981-12-25)December 25, 1981 (age 43) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Education | George Washington University (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | Political consultant, writer |
| Known for | Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign communications director Republican National Committee spokesman Never Trump movement |
| Political party | Republican (before 2020) Independent (2020–present) |
| Spouse | Tyler Jameson[1] |
| Children | 1 |
Tim Miller (born December 25, 1981) is an Americanpolitical commentator, writer and formerpolitical consultant. He wascommunications director for theJeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign, but that year became an early and prominent Republican critic ofDonald Trump.
Miller is a writer-at-large for theNever Trump opinion websiteThe Bulwark and, having succeededCharlie Sykes in 2023, host for the Bulwark's daily podcast,[2] and contributes as an MSNBC analyst.
In 2000, Miller graduated fromRegis Jesuit High School inAurora, Colorado, and in 2004 he graduated fromGeorge Washington University with a BA in political science.[3]
A native ofLittleton, Colorado, Miller started out in Republican politics as an intern working on the1998 Colorado gubernatorial election.[4][5] He later earned a bachelor's degree from theGeorge Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs.[6]
Miller was anIowa staffer forJohn McCain in the2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, and later served as national press secretary for theJon Huntsman 2012 presidential campaign.[6] In his role with the Huntsman campaign, Miller was credited byEsquire for making its daily email to reporters "surprisingly hip".[7] After the primary, Miller joined theRepublican National Committee as its liaison toMitt Romney's2012 presidential campaign.[8]
He was hired in 2015 by former Florida governorJeb Bush as a senior adviser to Bush's presidential exploratory committee,Right to Rise political action committee (PAC), and went on to act as the communications director for Bush's presidential campaign.[6][9][10] During the campaign, Miller drew notice as a "vocal critic" ofDonald Trump.[11] Following a 2016 South Carolina Republican primary debate, Miller followed Trump around the spin room heckling him until Miller was "hip-checked" by Trump campaign strategistCorey Lewandowski.[12]
Miller joined the anti-TrumpOur Principles PAC (political action committee) following Bush's exit from the2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, and then drew notice for lambasting Trump supporters with whom he appeared on-air.[13]
Following Trump's election, Miller announced that he had donated toDoug Jones, theDemocratic opponent ofRepublican nominee and accused sex offenderRoy Moore in the2017 United States Senate special election in Alabama to fillJeff Sessions' seat.[14][15] In 2020, he co-founded the advocacy organizationRepublican Voters Against Trump, which sponsored television and internet advertisements featuring lifelong Republicans explaining their rationale for voting forJoe Biden instead of Trump, and served as its political director.[8][16] He was included inThe Washington Post 2016 list of Republicans "who hate Donald Trump the most".[17] In November 2020, he announced he had left the Republican Party.[18][19]
Miller has been a member ofDefiners Public Affairs, an opposition research-styled consulting firm since 2016. The group circulated a research document in 2018 linkinganti-Facebook activists with financierGeorge Soros—a frequent subject ofantisemitic conspiracy theories—on behalf ofFacebook.[20] As a result of the controversy, Facebook ended its relationship with Definers.[21]
In February 2024, Miller replacedCharlie Sykes as host ofThe Bulwark Podcast.[22] He is also an MSNBC contributor,[23] a frequent guest onprogressive outletCrooked Media'sPod Save America podcast,[14][8][21] and co-hosts a regular series onBrian Tyler Cohen's YouTube channel calledInside The Right.[24]
He is a writer forThe Bulwark andRolling Stone.[8][25] He has written in support of Omar Ameen, an Iraqi refugee accused by Trump of being a member ofISIS.[26] ARolling Stone column by Miller on seeking background comments from reluctant Republican Trump supporters elicited a widely shared quote, "There are two options, you can be on this hell ship, or you can be in the water drowning".[25]
His memoir of working in pre-Trump era Republican politics,Why We Did It: A Travelogue From the Republican Road to Hell, was published byHarper in June 2022.[27] The book details Miller's political career, analysing the rise of Trump and the motivations of Republican politicians who remained firmly loyal to theMAGA movement,[28][29] and reached #2 onThe New York Times non fiction list in July 2022.[30] The book was positively received for its writing style and analysis of political changes within the post-Trump GOP during the late 2010s and early 2020s.[31][32] In a review forThe New York Times,Jennifer Szalai called the book "darkly funny" and praised Miller's insights into the inner workings of the Republican Party and the Washington, D.C., political scene.[33]New York Times columnistDavid French wrote that it offered "painful" insights into the impact ofpartisanship andTrumpism on the American conservative Right.[30]
Miller is openly gay. In May 2018 he married Tyler Jameson, with whom he has an adopted daughter.[1][34] He attributes his decision to take the risk of coming out in 2007 while still working on Republican campaigns, in part, to theLarry Craig scandal.[8] In 2023, Miller relocated fromOakland, California, toNew Orleans, Louisiana, with his husband and child.[20][26]
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